If you’ve been called to a university conduct hearing, you may be asked or encouraged to submit a personal statement. This is your opportunity to explain what happened from your point of view and respond to the allegations in writing. Most students don’t know where to...
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What to Do If a Professor Files a Conduct Report Without Telling You
It happens more often than you’d think. A student turns in an assignment, thinks everything is fine and then suddenly receives an email from the university’s conduct office. There’s been a report filed against them, often for cheating, plagiarism, or academic...
Do You Have to Speak at a College Conduct Hearing?
If your school has scheduled a conduct hearing, one of the first things you might wonder is whether you’re required to speak. You might feel unsure, nervous, or even afraid of saying the wrong thing. Some students consider staying silent entirely. Others wonder if...
What to Expect at a College Conduct Hearing for Off-Campus Charges
If your school finds out you were involved in an incident off campus - especially one that involved police, criminal charges, or serious misconduct - it may launch a disciplinary process that ends with a conduct hearing. Many students are caught off guard when they...
What Is Academic Suspension in College? What It Means and What Happens Next
Academic suspension is a status assigned when a student’s academic performance doesn’t meet the university’s minimum standards. It usually follows one or more semesters on probation, where grades and course completion fall below expectations. When suspended, students...
Can You Fight a Graduate School Dismissal?
Getting dismissed from a graduate program can feel overwhelming—especially when you’ve invested years of work and are suddenly told your academic career might be over. Whether it stems from grades, exams, thesis progress, or a disagreement with an advisor, dismissal...
Can a College Revoke Your Degree? What It Means and How to Respond
Most students think that once they graduate and receive their diploma, their degree is final. But under certain circumstances, a college or university can revoke a degree, even months or years after graduation. This possibility is rare, but it can have serious...
Can You Transfer Colleges While on Academic Suspension?
Academic suspension can feel like hitting a wall—but for many students, it raises a new question: Can I transfer to another college while I’m suspended? Whether the suspension was due to low grades, probation violations, or extenuating circumstances, you may be...
Submitting a Draft Doesn’t Protect You from Plagiarism Charges: What Graduate and Ph.D. Students Need to Know
For graduate and Ph.D. students, the stakes are incredibly high when it comes to academic integrity. Yet many students—especially at the dissertation or thesis stage—make a critical mistake: they submit a “draft” of their work that contains plagiarism or improperly...
Accused of Cheating on Honorlock? What to Expect
Online proctoring systems like Honorlock, Proctorio, and Respondus are meant to keep testing fair—but they also flag a lot of students for suspicious behavior, even when nothing dishonest actually happened. If you’ve received an academic misconduct notice based on...

